Elder and Overseer Qualifications

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Apostle statue

Similar to what Paul did with Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, he spells out qualifications for church leaders in today’s Bible reading*. Again, I don’t believe he’s giving a checklist as much as he’s giving guidelines and pointing out that being a church leader is more than just being well-connected in the community. Character is a big deal. Maturity is a big deal. Family is a big deal. And a thorough knowledge of the Gospel message is a big deal.

And speaking of the Gospel message as being a big deal. Titus had to deal with similar false teachings as Timothy did. Evidently, there were a lot of people who taught a lot of nonbiblical things and introduced myths and false teachings to the early church. Many of these false teachings tried to add religious requirements to the relationship Believers had with Jesus. The Apostles strongly opposed this at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

Application

It’s easy to pass off these early church problems because they didn’t have a printed Bible like we do today. Regardless of whether someone has a walking Apostle or a written Bible, God’s Word stands true and God’s Word is completely authoritative for us. But if we don’t read our Bible, we have no advantage over the early church.

Spend time today thanking God for the ministries of Paul and the other Apostles. Thank God for preserving His Word so that we can read it and understand it just like the First Century church did.

* Today we are reading Titus 1.

This devotional was originally published on September 24, 2019.


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